Wonderful concept, horrible execution.

Rating: 3/10 (7 September 2002)

Imagine, if you will, a world. A world where movies have thought provoking premises, eye-popping cinematography, beautiful sets and costumes, and absolutely beautiful music. Now, take all these positives and combine them with contrived dialogue, blind editing, cliches, and a plot that meanders on a journey to nowhere. This is the world of The Legend of 1900.
I'm a big fan of feel good movies, Disney has made more than one feature film that has "pulled at my heart-strings," yet I found it almost impossible to care about this movie. Character development never took place, in fact, I'm not sure acting ever took place. The movie was filled with unrealistic, "magic" moments that might have made more sense in a children's fantasy movie. But this can hardly be considered a children's movie considering the number of times the f-word is used and the feature is too painfully grounded in reality to be considered fantasy.
To call the dialogue tin-eared is almost a compliment and though the director is Italian it's not as if he would be unable to hire someone who did have a clue.
Speaking of directing, why direct a movie that should be an intimate character study with such an epic style? The grandeur of the camera angles/movement is impressive until you finally realize that it's there to entertain you through part of the flat plot.
As plots go, we never really accomplish anything. By the end of the movie, I almost felt that I knew less about 1900 than I did at the beginning. And Vince's character, eyes darting about to the point of distraction, gives a horrible performance with a whimp of a character. Other than serving as 1900's lap-dog and trite narrator he serves no practical purpose whatsoever.
The thing that bothers me most, though, is the number of people singing this movie's praises. Endless reviews calling it "magic" and "unforgettable." It gives me cause to step back and re-examine my long-held views that people aren't generally idiots.
I don't mean to destroy this movie, I simply find myself disappointed. I had hoped for so much more. I would love to see this movie redone by a director who knows English and with a script that follows the same plot without the painfull specifics that drive this feature into the dirt. This movie gets a 3/10. 1 for cinematography, 1 for music, and 1 for a concept that had enough potential to make me pick up this movie on a whim.